Deadly Fix
by aflightoffancy
Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation... MA.
1. Chapter 1

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation… MA.

Disclaimer: Not mine. I wish.

_This story… Sometimes I think my brain is doing things while I'm not looking… There's nothing terribly original here, so don't get too excited. If you're looking for a magnificent Cure story read inzane73's _The Friggin' Cure. _This is just the result of working the night shift for too long._

Chapter One

* * *

Alec walked into Joshua's old house and stopped in the doorway. Logan and Max looked to be deep in conversation, but they halted abruptly when he appeared. Kinda hurt a guy's feelings, especially since Logan had called and asked him to be there. Max was sitting on the sofa while Logan stood in front of her, frozen in mid-gesture. Interestingly enough, Logan looked both annoyed and relieved to see him.

Alec stepped into the room and grinned. "I suppose you're wondering why I called you here."

"Funny, Alec. Now shut up," Max said frowning. "This is important."

"Isn't it always?" Alec answered, one eyebrow raised.

Things had been awkward since the flag raising. Alec was still her in-name-only boyfriend, but the hand holding thing had thrown a wrench in the works. Basically Max was doing a great job of making sure that both of the men in her life looked whipped. Logan might not mind, but Manticore hadn't made Alec to be a weakling. He'd been made to kick ass and take crap from no one. But Max needed him, so he was trying to keep from being too pissed off. Wasn't working real well, but he was trying.

Alec walked over to the sofa and flopped down right next to Max and threw his arm around her shoulders. Max tensed and started to push him away. Alec wouldn't allow it though and she looked up at Logan guiltily.

"I told him, Alec."

"Told him?"

"That you and me… That we…"

"That we've been going at it like a couple of rabbits for months now?"

"No!" Max shouted, her face turning beet red. Alec tried not to enjoy that she looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. He really did. "That we… you…"

"Yes, honey?" he grinned.

"You're such an ass!" Max snapped.

Alec looked up at Logan. "I take it she told you she lied about us being together?"

Logan let out a breath, his cheeks puffing out. "Yes."

"Well, good. You know how I hate subterfuge in all its shapes and forms," Alec said, all innocence.

"So you can take your arm off me now," Max said through clenched teeth. "Are you part monkey?"

Alec was still looking at Logan. "There's nothing wrong with two friends sitting together on the sofa, is there?" he asked, unashamed challenge in his eye.

Logan appeared genuinely angry and it made Alec smile to see it.

"Friends should be able to sit next to each other. Even touch each other. Give a friendly pat on the shoulder." He was still looking at Logan defiantly. "And all without dying. It's nice." He brazenly squeezed Max's shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"Alec, have you lost your mind?" Max said, pushing his arm off her. She hadn't pushed hard, however, and they remained sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"Just reminding you why there was a lie in the first place. You two need to get over it. You can't touch and you're torturing each other." Alec sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. He chose not to mention that they were torturing him too. "You don't even see each other that much anymore. Make it a clean break and move on."

"You don't get to tell me-"

"But you get to declare me your boyfriend?" Alec cut her off. "I don't get to run your life and I don't get to run mine. That the way it works, Max?"

Alec stood and began pacing back and forth, suddenly feeling like a caged animal. He was so tired. He'd been tired for weeks now. Just couldn't sleep. He'd blamed it on the bullet wound in his shoulder at first. He'd traced the sleeplessness back to that night. But it wasn't that and he was fooling himself to believe it. It was the hand-holding thing.

Max was so blind. She could have accidentally moved just a few inches on that rooftop and killed Logan. There wouldn't have been a thing they could do about it. Was that love? It was one of the stupidest, most dangerous things he'd ever seen. And Alec had a lot of experience with stupid and dangerous.

Logan wasn't a transgenic. He couldn't physically keep up with her even before he'd been shot. He certainly couldn't understand what it really meant to be Manticore property. Max, on the other hand, _was_ a transgenic. Being with Logan meant being cut off from a part of herself. She would _always_ have to be careful around him. How was denying what you were a good thing?

"Alec, will you stand still for a minute and shut up?" Max said angrily. "We need your help."

He turned around at that, his gaze traveling from one of them to the other. "My help?"

"Logan's found someone who can help us."

"Us, meaning the transgenics, or us, meaning you and Logan?" The look on her face instantly told him the answer. "You've found a cure?"

"Sort of," Max said.

"I've located a doctor. He was Manticore and knows about the sorts of targeted viruses they cooked up," Logan cut in.

"Well, isn't that just great." Alec pasted a smile on his face. "You two can live happily ever after."

"Alec, what crawled up your ass and died?" Max demanded.

"Nothing." Alec sighed, ordering himself to calm down. Just walking in and seeing the two of them talking together like the break-up had never happened, like Alec wasn't the one who'd had to take up the slack when Max needed someone to talk to, like Max hadn't relied on him to support her while Terminal City was in near chaos. He was the one she trusted to get the supplies they needed. He was the one she trusted to handle it when the transgenics started carping or fighting. And now here they were, Max and Logan, brushing him aside, looking at him like he was a screw-up and trying to figure out how to fix the virus. They'd come so far and now they were right back at the beginning.

Alec couldn't seem to tamp down the anger he felt building. He'd thought they were finally getting past all that. Where did it leave the transgenics? Max had made herself the rallying point. She'd dragged him along, berated him, guilted him into helping her until Alec had forgotten that there was a time when he hadn't been so deeply invested in making sure they all stayed fed and clothed, safe. And now here they were again, Max and Logan. Where did it leave him? Max belonged with him. Them. All of them.

It made him want to scream. And run. And leave it all behind. He did not need this. He did not need _any_ of this. He could leave this town and never look back. Never have to look into that stubbornly beautiful face. Never have to face the woman who both relied on him and ignored him. He'd have no one to answer to but himself, no one to rely on but himself. He could leave it _all_.

"Don't you _dare_." Max was on her feet now, forcing Logan to back up, so that she didn't touch him as she charged toward Alec.

His face clouded with anger and he didn't bother to hide it. He was just so tired that he was having trouble hiding anything from her tonight. He wasn't desperate. Or jealous. He _wasn't_. He just needed sleep. That was all.

"Dare what?" Logan asked.

Max didn't answer. She just stood in front of Alec, looking at him. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that she looked worried.

"We… _I_ need your help," she finally said.

"Ah." That was the reason for the worry, Alec thought. She needed him for something.

"The doctor asked for another transgenic," Logan said.

"So get one of the others," Alec replied.

"The doctor specifically asked for Max's breeding partner if we knew who it was." Logan looked like he was going to be sick. Apparently he still had some lingering issues with Alec being Max's boyfriend. _Good_.

"Why?"

"Your DNA. Compatibility."

Alec couldn't help a smirk, his eyes returning to Max. "Everyone seems to think we're compatible, Maxie. Even our genes like each other."

"The doctor hasn't met you yet," Max shot back. "He doesn't know about the personality problems."

"Right." Alec felt his smirk leave and Max actually looked a little guilty for the cheap shot. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Could hair be tired? It felt sore from root to tip. "What do you need me to do?"

Max pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Meet me there tomorrow morning at nine," she said, pointing at the address on the paper for good measure.

Alec nodded and looked up, glancing from Max to Logan. "So, I guess I'll just leave you two to… talk."

Neither of them said anything. Logan was once again looking relieved, this time that Alec was leaving. Max looked… he wished he knew what she was thinking, but all he could see was that she still looked slightly troubled, worried. Probably that he'd screw this up somehow and she wouldn't get her cure.

Alec turned to go. Maybe he would be able to sleep tonight. He somehow doubted it. Maybe even more so than normal.

He stopped, feeling a hand on his arm. She'd reached out to him. It was a rare thing and Alec couldn't bring himself to shake it off. Alec half turned back, but didn't look at her, afraid of what he might see there, afraid her worried expression had changed to something else. Pity maybe, or worse, the desire for him to be gone.

"Thank you, Alec."

* * *

_More soon…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation…

_Sorry for any confusion. These stories aren't sequels. I just have a bizarre fondness for title groupings._

Chapter Two

* * *

Max sat in the chair, uncomfortably staring at the ceiling. Logan was sitting in the other chair, probably staring at her. She knew she'd been quiet since they'd arrived at the research facility where the doctor worked now, but Max didn't feel like talking. Not even to reassure Logan that she was happy about the idea of finally curing the virus. She had too many thoughts warring for her attention.

She _was_ happy. She was. Walking around knowing you could kill a person just by bumping into them wasn't a good way to live. The problem was that Logan was looking at her like it would fix everything else in their lives. It wouldn't feed or clothe an ever-growing mass of transgenics. It wouldn't convince the world that she wasn't Queen of the Army of Evil that was going to march into Seattle and start eating babies. It wouldn't wipe away the awkwardness that had crept in ever since the virus happened, more so since Alec being her non-boyfriend and the lockdown on TC happened. It wouldn't wipe away the memory of the look on Alec's face when she'd told him about the cure. He'd looked… betrayed. As if she was just going to leave them all behind, leap into Logan's arms and run off to Hawaii or wherever?

"You ok?"

Max turned her head to look at Logan and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Nervous?"

"Only that Alec isn't going to show," she said, although she knew it was unfair. She'd been thinking about him anyway and Alec was just an easy target. It would give Logan something to focus on other than her.

"I should have known it wasn't real," Logan said. "You and Alec."

Max stifled the two thoughts she had simultaneously. First to say, _yeah, you should have_ and second, to defend Alec. It obviously wasn't _that_ unbelievable, or Logan wouldn't have accepted it so easily. "It was too dangerous to be together. We both knew it."

"No," Logan said, a touch of anger showing through, "_we_ didn't."

"_We_ should have," Max replied. They'd been hashing and rehashing this ever since Logan had located the doctor a week earlier and it was getting really old.

"I still can't believe you got Alec to go along with it for that long."

"Yeah." Max was, too. Alec had gone above and beyond the call of duty. It had been weird really. And then he'd seen her holding Logan's hand at the flag raising and it had gotten weirder. He hadn't said anything, but she'd known he wasn't happy about it. He'd caught her talking to Logan a few other times and the tension levels had been _unpleasant_. It was partly why she'd decided to just go ahead and fess up when Logan said he'd found the doctor. She'd hoped it would make things easier between them.

She'd dragged Alec into her way of life kicking and screaming, forcing him to care when his instincts were only to protect himself. It had taken time, but he'd done it. Joshua first, then gradually others were added to those he offered attention or help, although Alec still kept them at arms length. She was the only one who'd been allowed to see him with his barriers down.

The night before, she'd expected Alec to look relieved when he knew she'd finally let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. He hadn't though. Angry. He'd been so angry. Angry at her for running right back to Logan. And leaving him alone. Again. Sometimes she caught him when he thought no one was looking. Alec was the most social person she knew, and yet the most alone.

"What are you thinking about?" Logan asked.

"Just wondering where Alec is," she said, frowning. "He's late."

"Probably just dragging himself in from a date now that he's free to be a playboy again," Logan observed.

Max tried not to show how much that thought bothered her. She and Alec had practically spent every waking moment together since the Jam Pony disaster. The idea that he could just run off and do whatever stupid crap he'd done before… It was unthinkable. He was her right hand man. When she ruffled the wrong feathers, Alec was the one who smoothed them. When she was the one ready to kill a scaly, cigar-smoking know-it-all, Alec was the one who calmed her down. Times when she was stressed out of her mind, a maddening smirk from him reminded her that it was nothing they couldn't handle together. Times like now. _Where. Was. Alec_?

The door opened and Alec sauntered in, a grin on his face. "Ah, my two favorite people in the whole world."

A lab coat wearing technician who had been following Alec, gestured toward the last empty seat in front of the desk. "Have a seat, sir. The doctor will be with you all shortly."

Alec nodded, scanning the room, and Max almost smiled, suddenly more relaxed now that he was present. She knew he was checking for weaknesses, exits, danger zones, etc. She'd done it herself. Finally, he walked toward the chair beside Max and dragged it a bit to where he was more comfortable with his defense. He had a good view of the door and was more out of the window's direct line of sight.

"So what's the plan here?" Alec asked. "They need samples of everybody and we're done?"

"They already have all the samples they need," Max answered. "We're here because he thinks he's got the answer."

"They already…" Alec sat up straighter in his chair. "They've already got my DNA?"

"Yeah, I gave them some of the leftover blood you donated when Cricket got hurt," she said.

"You gave them my DNA."

"Yes."

"When?"

"A week ago."

"You gave it to them a week ago," Alec said, his voice flat, his eyes boring into her.

"That's what I said. Is there a problem?" Max asked, feeling her temper flare.

Alec just looked at her, his face unreadable. "You just gave a Manticore doctor my DNA to mess around with and couldn't be bothered to tell me?" he asked carefully.

"I didn't think it was important," Max replied, unease creeping up and overtaking her anger. "Logan checked him out. The doctor's done good things since he left Manticore. I've already met him, too. He's not like some of them, so don't worry."

"Fine," Alec said tightly. "Fine."

She could tell it wasn't. She'd taken something of his and just handed it over. Max hadn't thought of it like that and Alec's behavior told her that she should have. At the time, she'd just been in a hurry to hand over anything that might help the doctor fix her.

"What's going on, guys?" Logan asked, feeling the tension in the room, but not really understanding it.

"Nothing." Alec stood from his chair and Max was reminded of his sudden urge to pace the night before. This time he walked to the wall and leaned his back against it. Alec crossed his arms over his chest, putting more distance between them.

The door opened again and this time the doctor stepped into the room. "Good morning."

Logan stood and held his hand out to the man who shook it. Max didn't shake hands, but she nodded in greeting. She turned to look at Alec and her eyes widened. There was no visible difference in the way he was standing, but she could tell. It was fight or flight time.

Alec was controlling his breathing, his eyes not moving from the doctor. Not good. Alec knew the doctor from before. She could see it written all over him. Yet another thing she'd completely ignored when she'd asked him to come here. She hadn't recognized the guy, but Alec had been at Manticore so much longer. Of course, he would know more of the doctors than she would. She'd been so wrapped up in the cure, she'd ignored everything.

"Alec?"

"Yes?" He still had his eyes on the doctor.

"Everything ok?"

He didn't answer. Max supposed because he wasn't sure yet. She really looked at him and for the first time she could see exhaustion hiding in the background. His eyes were slightly sunken and he was paler than he should have been. How on earth had she missed that? For something like that to show on a transgenic, it would take… weeks.

"I'm told your name is Alec," the doctor said. He waited, but there was no response. "I'm Dr. Miller."

"I know your name," Alec said lowly, a definite warning.

The doctor knew it too. He'd worked at Manticore. He knew what he was dealing with and to tread lightly. "I am glad we can meet under better circumstances," he said carefully. "I know it was not so pleasant the last time." Alec still didn't respond and the doctor pressed on. "I am here to help right this if I can. I cannot change everything that happened at Manticore, but this one I can do something about."

Alec stood away from the wall, his stance turning aggressive, and Max quickly decided she needed to do something before this went any further. "Guys, give me a minute with Alec."

"Of course," Dr. Miller said, smart enough to know not to mess with a stressed transgenic who wasn't restrained. "Mr. Cale, perhaps you would like a tour of the facility? See the sort of things we're working on?"

Logan nodded his agreement, but Max could tell he didn't understand. He was looking at Alec angrily, as if he were purposely holding up the works. She was impatient herself, but Alec was here because she'd asked him to be. She'd screwed this one up royally and she was going to have to fix it. "We just need a minute, ok?" Max offered him a smile. Logan nodded again and followed the doctor through the door, closing it behind him.

Max stood and walked over to Alec, standing directly in front of him. "You can't kill him. We need him."

Alec let out a startled laugh. "I won't kill him, Max. As Manticore went, he wasn't too bad."

"Then why do you look ready to bolt?"

"Cause the last time I met him, I was strapped to a table begging him to give me a gun so I could blow my own head off."

Max just blinked. He'd said it so matter-of-factly. Like she'd say she'd stopped for coffee on the way here.

Alec brushed past her, moving farther into the room where she couldn't crowd him. He still had his arms crossed, physically closing himself off from her.

"What happened?"

Alec smirked. "He said no."

Max rolled his eyes. "I figured that much. I meant why?"

"They weren't very trusting after I screwed up with Berrisford. The first few times they sent me out, they gave me a virus that had a set life. I do the job and come back on time, they fix it. I don't come back, I get sick and die."

"You didn't go back?" Max asked surprised.

Alec shook his head. "Got delayed. Eastern Europe. Missed a train, of all things, and had some trouble tracking the mark. Virus was already killing me by the time I got back. Talk about a bad day at the office. I had this rash right on my-"

"I get it," Max said before he could go any further. And she did get it. She'd seen the virus' effect on Logan. A virus that could bring down a transgenic would have to be even nastier. "Alec, this guy really has helped people since he left Manticore. I need you to do this."

A sly smile spread across his face. "What's it worth to you?"

"Huh?"

"You get to tell everybody we weren't able to get any meat this week. We're vegetarians until we can make some new arrangements."

Max grimaced. "You trying to get me lynched? I was counting on you to get us through that announcement. Everybody'll forgive you. They'll just be pissed at me."

"You think you'd be used to it by now," he smirked. Max smacked him and his grin widened. "So we have a deal?"

"You that desperate to get out of handling the fallout? You have a hot date?" she asked, unhappy with just how surly she sounded.

Alec looked at her, studying her so closely, Max wanted to fidget. "You're the one with the hot date," he finally said. "We get this taken care of, you and Logan can have at it."

Max felt herself bristling. Why did everyone immediately assume the first thing she was going to do was jump Logan? As if sex with Logan was her entire goal in life?

"And you assume the first thing I'm gonna do is go find some random girl?" Alec asked pointedly.

Max's eyes widened. He'd known exactly what she was thinking. Had she been that easy to read? "You've got enough of them looking at you," Max finally said.

"Nice of you to notice," he replied. "So are we gonna do this today? You've got an announcement to make."

"Are you gonna hit the doctor?"

"I'll try not to."

"Then let's do it."

Alec raised an eyebrow and Max glared. "Do you have to turn everything into something dirty?"

The door behind him opened and Max saw him fight not to react. Instead he kept his eyes on her, almost as if she were anchoring him. "It helps get me through the day," he said with a smile.

"What does?" Logan asked.

"Booze mostly," Alec said, turning toward the two men walking back into the room.

The doctor walked in behind Logan carrying a tray with a small syringe on it, along with the normal supplies for giving a shot. Alec very casually backed up a pace and Max met him, placing a hand on his arm to both stop him and offer what comfort she could. Logan noticed what she'd done and frowned, but she refused to leave Alec's side. The fact that he was so openly bothered by this was a testament to just how much was going on in his head.

"Suck it up, Alec. You've had a lot of shots," she said.

"You must have had a stray nun in your DNA mix," he replied. "Compassion's your middle name. It would also explain the frigid thing you've got going."

Max hit him promptly then replaced her hand on his arm. She knew his defense mechanisms were working overtime. The only reason he was still in the room was because she'd asked him to be. That made him her responsibility right now.

"All right," the doctor said. "What we've done is make a virus for your virus, Max."

"So the shot's for Max?" Alec asked. "Then what am I here for?"

"No, the shot's for you," the doctor said and Max felt Alec's muscles tense again under her fingers. "That's why I asked for Max's breeding partner. You have the most compatible DNA. It meshes well with hers. The virus has to be coded for the carrier's DNA as well. That's why Max hasn't passed it to others who could then infect Mr. Cale."

"Nice of Manticore to be so careful," Max frowned.

The doctor only nodded. "We've taken Max's virus and made another one targeted specifically for it. It's like what they did to infect Mr. Cale, only this new virus is targeted for the old virus."

Alec was watching the doctor very closely as he put on a pair of latex gloves. "And you need me because…"

"As I said, this is a companion virus to the one that Max is already carrying. We need another carrier with compatible DNA to incubate the new one. It should be harmless to you, as well as to Max. All it will do is target the old virus and destroy it. Just like the old one, a simple touch will activate it."

Alec shifted from one foot to the other. "You said incubate. How long do we have to wait before the new virus is ready?"

"48 hours should be sufficient," the doctor said. "That will give the virus time to develop properly. Once Max is infected, it should be almost instantaneous, but we'll, of course, do more tests to ensure that Max's old virus has indeed been neutralized."

He made it sound so simple, Max thought. After all of the pain the virus had caused, the doctor could take it away just as easily as Manticore had given it to her in the first place. Her eyes met Logan's and she could see the simple joy so plainly visible there. His hands were restless, wanting to reach out to her, and she could feel the hope that she'd hardly dared to feel begin to bubble up inside her. She'd hurt so many people that she cared about and now she had a chance to ensure that Logan wouldn't be one of them. She wasn't going to be a danger anymore. She wasn't going to be defective. She was going to be whole again.

A movement beside her surprised her. Alec had pulled away and was looking at her face. Whatever he saw there, he smiled sadly, a flash of pain in his eyes, then he turned away from her. Alec walked toward the doctor's desk, grabbed the syringe and jammed it into his arm, quickly depressing the plunger. He then tossed it back onto the tray in front of the gaping medical man. He looked at her over his shoulder, a serene mask firmly in place. _I'm always all right_.

"Alec…"

"See you in 48, Maxie." Alec walked out of the room and didn't look back.

* * *

_More soon…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation…

_Thank you very, very much for the lovely reviews. And now, finally we get to the hostage portion of this little outing…_

Chapter Three

* * *

Max ran through Terminal City waving anyone aside who held up a hand to try and stop her. She had to get to Alec. 

She hadn't seen him for 32 hours, not that she was counting. After they left the doctor, Logan had wanted her to come back to the house with him, but that was just dumb with the virus still in play, not to mention that she had things to do.

She'd arrived back at command to find that Alec had already organized a supply run and left with his team. If Logan had been frustrated with her refusal to go home with him, she was just as frustrated with Alec's evasive maneuvers. She'd waited for him to return, but even then, he'd managed to never be where she was. It was especially irksome, since normally she couldn't seem to get rid of him. Max needed him now though. This was more important than whatever weirdness was going on between them.

She finally arrived at the door to his apartment and began banging on it furiously. She was just about to pick the lock when it finally opened. Alec was in stocking feet, wearing an old t-shirt and sweatpants. He looked at her through bleary eyes and scratched a hand through his hair.

"Max?"

"Get dressed. We have a problem."

"Sure," he said simply. He padded back inside leaving the door open behind him. Max followed him in, anxious for him to hurry.

As always it surprised her how clean Alec's apartment was. Despite some of his tendencies for prodigal behavior, she supposed that military life had ingrained in him the need for order. There was a TV, of course, in a prominent spot opposite a comfortable, if worn, looking sofa. There was a small table and a lamp sitting on it. In the kitchenette, he had a single cooking pot, a cup, a plate, and a fork sitting on a shelf. Everything else had been shared out, she imagined. Their life in Terminal City was certainly a Spartan existence. The TV was a luxury most of them didn't have. The privilege of rank, he'd happily informed her when she'd asked how he got it.

Alec came back in from the other room, now in khaki trousers and a fresh t-shirt, pulling on his jacket. He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes, and sighed.

"I wake you?" she asked, as he closed the door behind them.

"Trying to sleep," he answered, ignoring her acerbic tone. "Hadn't got very far."

"You know it's the middle of the afternoon, right?" She could see the dark circles under his eyes. He looked painfully tired.

Alec shrugged. "Gotta sleep when you can." They walked outside his apartment building and as Max broke into a jog, Alec did likewise. "You gonna tell me what's up?" he asked.

"Cops came to the gates asking for help. They've got a transgenic holding hostages and he's refusing to talk to anyone but another transgenic."

Max saw Alec nearly stop jogging he was so surprised, but he quickly caught back up with her. "They asked you to help them?"

"Yes. And they're pissed they had to ask, so be nice," Max ordered.

She wasn't reassured when Alec grinned. "I'm always nice. You're the one with the anger management problems."

"I am not."

"It wasn't me who threatened to turn Mole into a purse."

"That was a bargaining tactic. Worked too," Max answered, trying not to laugh as she remembered the look on Mole's face.

"Lizard's a pushover. You don't even carry a purse," Alec said doubtfully. "Now a pair of boots I'd have believed."

Max would have made a reply, but they were arriving at the makeshift gates. A troupe of cops stood waiting for them and, if anything, they looked even more annoyed than when she'd left.

"You sure you want to do this?" Alec asked, eyeing their very hostile audience.

"The guy could kill innocent people," she answered. "He wants a transgenic and I've been all over the news. He'll recognize me." Alec still didn't look convinced. "We've got to try and the cops have promised us safe passage."

Alec snorted derisively, but when he spoke it was a question she hadn't expected. "Why me?"

"You look half-decent on TV," she replied. Alec grinned at that, suddenly smug. As if she'd ever denied that he was handsome? Manticore had given her a working pair of eyes. "It's good PR."

"I bet you tell that to all the guys."

"Look, this could get hairy. I need someone I can trust and that's you."

Alec simply nodded, accepting it as fact. They'd relied on each other too many times now to deny it. They worked well together. Mostly. With lots of griping and a few too many tantrums thrown in.

"You believe they'll just let us go?" Alec asked, seeing the policemen were beginning to shift in irritation at having to wait while he and Max had their little confab.

"No," Max answered, giving him a look to tell him he'd been silly to ask in the first place. "We can deal with an exit once we've dealt with the hostage situation." She looked at the small army of cops gathered outside and smiled, knowing it was almost feral. "I think we can take 'em."

Alec's eyebrows rose. "You know the phrase 'you and what army?' You're not really supposed to follow through on it. It's just to piss off people who are annoying you."

"So says the government trained assassin."

Alec shook his head. "Never gonna let that go are ya? Do I hold it against you that you were a cat burglar?"

"That's because you think it's sexy."

"You have no idea," he said lowly and suddenly Max felt warm all over, as if the sun had just peeked out from behind the clouds. She glanced over at him and her heart skipped a beat when Alec winked at her.

Quickly getting herself back together, Max nodded to the guard stationed at the gate. He opened it and stood back at full attention. Normally, she would have snapped at him to knock it off, but now wasn't the time to let the cops see any dissent in the ranks, nor was it the time to make it look like they didn't know what they were doing.

Max and Alec walked through the gates, shoulder to shoulder. Several of the waiting policemen reached for their guns, making no effort to be subtle. Max and Alec pretended not to notice, but simply kept walking toward the officer who was waving them to his car. They both slid into the back seat, not quite as able to pretend they didn't notice that it was a car with a metal cage between the front and back seat and bars on the windows. Not a setup, just a sign of the times, Max mentally reassured herself.

The car quickly pulled away from Terminal City and the other police vehicles fell in behind them. The uniformed man driving their car kept looking at them in the rearview mirror as if they might suddenly sprout horns and try to rip his head off.

"Can you give us any details?" Max asked him, trying to keep her aggravation level low. The situation was going to be tense enough.

"We were chasing one of the freaks," he coughed nervously and again glanced at them in the mirror, "a transgenic, I mean, and he ran into an accountant's office. He's got about fifteen people in there and won't say anything other than he wants another fr-, transgenic, to talk to."

"Anyone hurt?" Alec asked and the cop's eyes shifted from her to him.

"We don't know."

"Weapons?"

"We don't know," the man said again. "We assume so."

"Then why were you chasing him?" Alec asked mildly. The cop didn't notice the steel beneath the tone, but Max did.

"He was shoplifting in a grocery. He ran too fast to be human."

Max heard Alec swear under his breath and he looked down, closing his eyes. They were in this mess because the poor guy had been hungry. And they weren't even going to acknowledge him as human.

"What's he look like?" Max asked.

"Huh?"

"Does he look… normal?" Not that any of them were normal, but she needed to know if this was an X-Series or one of Manticore's more colorful creations. It might be why they weren't calling him human, but then an Anomaly wouldn't have gotten into the grocery in the first place.

"He looks like you guys," the officer said, frowning.

"Ok, thanks," Max said, and the man almost jumped as if he hadn't expected common courtesy.

Alec shifted in his seat, his expression still troubled as he watched the buildings outside continue to fly by. It was a small car and they were sitting fairly close together, but not touching. Max felt the sudden urge to reach out and place her hand over his, just to make contact, to reassure herself, to reassure Alec that, yes, they were human. No, they weren't alone.

She stopped herself though. 32 hours. Closer to 33 now.

She had never been quite so aware of him, his movement, his body. It was right there. The Cure. It was right there in the shape of Alec who was biting his lip, his eyes moving rapidly to keep up with the passing view.

As the car sped around a corner, going too fast so that the driver had to brake quickly, Max saw Alec brace against the car's movement. If she hadn't been watching so closely she never would have seen the nearly effortless shift of toned muscle, the rebalancing that made it look like he'd barely noticed as the car tried to sling them around.

As if he'd realized he was being scrutinized, Alec turned his head toward her and their gazes met. She half expected him to grin, or smirk, or make some smart remark, but instead he just looked at her.

And suddenly the car wasn't nearly big enough. She wanted to touch him and yet not touch him. She wanted to move closer, yet back away. This was Alec. They were friends. They were partners. They were close. But that didn't explain the _hunger_ in his eyes, the near desperation. It didn't explain her response to it.

"Hey, you two quit staring at each other. You're freaking me out," the cop said. "Pardon the phrase."

It was enough to snap them both out of it. Max blinked as if she'd been in a trance and Alec's head snapped to look out the window so fast that she thought it probably hurt. She hadn't touched him, but she suddenly felt cold, now that his gaze was no longer on her.

The car came to an abrupt stop and the cop got out. He opened the door for her since the doors wouldn't open from the inside. Max stepped out into a mass of people and hesitated at the open hostility, images of the mob surrounding Biggs' corpse flashing through her mind. Alec stepped out of the car behind her. She couldn't see him, but he must have realized her need, or been feeling the same, because he put his hands on her shoulders to reassure her that he was there.

Every eye was on them, some belligerent, some pitying, some angry, some purposely blank. The cop who'd driven them there pushed his way forward and Max assumed they should follow. As they began walking, Alec moved to her side and kept a steadying hand at her back. Her first instinct was to elbow him away. She didn't want to look weak in front of these people, but his presence was too comforting in the face of so many enemies.

The people moved back, parting in a wave as they approached and Max fought not to snarl. It wasn't like they had the plague. They were here to help them. They'd been _asked_ to come.

"Easy, Maxie," Alec whispered so that only she could hear.

The policeman leading them finally stopped near a large oversized RV type vehicle that seemed to be the command post. He knocked and the door opened after a few seconds. The person who opened the door looked behind the cop and saw them, his expression changing to something akin to disgust. He went back inside and after another minute someone else came to the door and then stepped down to come and meet them.

"I don't think they trust us in the command post," Max said, her lips pursed.

"Would you?" Alec smirked. "They probably think we'll try to help the guy escape."

Max almost smiled. Of course they did. And they'd be right.

The man approaching them had thinning hair, was in his mid thirties, wore a dress shirt and tie and looked more than a little beleaguered. He stopped several feet in front of them keeping a wary distance. "You're the transgenics?"

Max just nodded. He knew they were. She'd been on TV more than Seattle's mayor since the whole Jam Pony disaster.

"I'm in command of this operation. You remember that and we'll get along just fine."

Max and Alec shared a glance that said how much they cared. "Just tell us why we're here," she said.

The man sighed, not liking it, but knowing he had no other choice. "This guy has been holed up in that building," he pointed toward a small one story office building, "for over two hours now. He won't say anything except get him a transgenic to talk to or people will start dying." More officers were gathering around them now, sensing that things were finally getting going.

"What's the phone number in there?" Alec asked, taking his cell phone from his pocket.

"He won't answer," the cop replied. "I've been trying since this started."

"We'll see about that. The number?"

Alec punched the number in as the officer recited it and raised the phone to his ear. He listened for several seconds, then pushed a button to cancel the call. Alec repeated the procedure twice more at different intervals and it dawned on Max and those surrounding them what Alec was doing.

"You guys got a secret handshake too?" the cop asked angrily.

"Wouldn't be a secret if I told you, now would it?" Alec said, grinning sweetly. He then dialed again and held the phone out to Max. "Here. He'll answer this time." Max was surprised that he'd handed it over, but Alec shook his head. "You're the famous one. He'll recognize you."

Max quickly took the phone. On the fourth ring it was picked up. "You asked for a transgenic, so here I am," she said. "You look out the window, you'll see me directly in front of the building."

"_I see you_."

"My name's Max. You wanna tell me who I'm talkin' to?"

"_I said I can see you, 452_._ You think we weren't warned about you_?_ You're an '09er_!_ What kind of game are you people playing_?" the man shouted. In the background, Max heard a flurry of voices, frightened by the hostage-taker's heightened agitation.

Alec swore and the cops around them frowned worriedly. "What's going on?" the commander asked.

"Possible problem," Alec hissed.

"What, you can hear him?" the man asked wide-eyed, and Max glared at them all to shut up.

"_You think I'm gonna trust a traitor_?" the hostage-taker screeched.

Alec ripped the phone out of her hand. "This is X5-494. State your designation, soldier."

There was a long pause on the other end, then finally Max heard the man clear his throat. "_X5-017, sir_."

Alec nodded, facing the building. "Report."

"_Spotted me in the grocery. Couldn't get away. You here to extract me, sir_?"

"How many hostages?"

"_Fourteen, sir_."

"Injuries?"

"_Negative, sir. Waiting for extraction, sir_."

"Fourteen hostages, everyone's ok," Max said, passing on the information to the policemen, ignoring it when another round of 'freak super-hearing' broke out in the ranks.

"Excellent job, 017," Alec said. "Sit tight. No action until I'm on scene. I'll be inside in two."

"_Yes, sir_."

Alec ended the call and looked back at Max, his expression troubled. "This isn't good."

"You're not going in there alone," she said angrily, just as the cops around them simultaneously burst into similar shouts.

Alec silenced them all with a glare and Max was stunned at the ferocity in his gaze. "Those hostages have maybe ten minutes before he shoots them all and runs for it. He said he was waiting for extraction. The second I told him we were here, the countdown started for those people. Pre-extraction procedure means removing witnesses who can identify you."

They all just stared at him in open-mouthed horror, Max included.

"If you guys decide to go in," Alec looked at the commander, "he starts shooting hostages the second he sees you move. And you, Max, are an '09er. You'll just piss him off or worse get those people killed. So, it's just me. Got it?"

Max saw him smirk, and it made her insides churn. She'd seen him in action often enough now, but his smiling in the face of death had never seemed quite so hollow. Again, she saw the exhaustion making lines around his eyes, his too pale skin.

"Are you kidding?" the commander asked.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Did that sound funny?" He looked at his watch. "If the hostages don't start coming out in five minutes, tear gas the building and come in hot. Understand?"

The cop just nodded, nearly slack-jawed. He then turned and started giving orders to the officers surrounding him.

Alec set his hands on Max's shoulders and squeezed lightly. She looked up into his eyes and didn't bother to hide how frustrated or worried she was. "This is a bad idea."

"Don't look so scared, Max," he said. "I haven't forgotten I'm an incubator. I'll be back in time."

Max blinked in surprise. She hadn't been thinking about the cure. All she'd been worrying about was Alec going in there alone. "Be careful."

Alec gave her shoulders one last squeeze. "Always." He stepped back, sharing one last glance with her, and then confidently strode toward the building, disappearing through the front door. It was only after he was gone that Max realized he wasn't armed. She hadn't thought to ask, but she guessed that either Alec didn't want a gun, or thought he didn't need one. It had her skin crawling though to know he was that much more vulnerable.

Max paid no attention to the activity around her, instead counting down the seconds in her head. There was no movement, no sound from inside the building. The policemen were all in their gear, getting in formation to storm the office.

Three minutes.

Two minutes.

One minute left of the five Alec had allowed.

Hostages started streaming out of the front door and the police hurried to corral them, moving them out of their line of sight to the building. That was when she heard it.

Gunfire.

Max waited, eyes on the front door, willing Alec to appear. He was fine. Alec was _fine_. She'd know if he wasn't, wouldn't she?

Max kept her eyes on the door, hope dying as the seconds ticked past. She'd told him to be careful. The idiot never had followed orders.

* * *

_More soon… Y'all know how I love a Sunday afternoon nap, so it'll probably be Monday._


	4. Chapter 4

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation…

_Thank you for waiting so patiently. Naps really are wonderful._

Chapter Four

* * *

Max was running before her brain knew what she was doing. 

Max skidded to a halt, however, as did the officers following her, when the door to the office building opened. Alec looked like something out of a pre-pulse horror movie. He was covered in blood. His hair was matted with it and his face was spattered. His clothing was soaked on one side from shoulder to waist.

Max moved forward again, stopping just in front of him. Her hands reached out to grab him, but she wasn't sure where to touch. "Where are you hit?"

"I'm fine, Max," he said calmly.

"Don't give me that," she snapped. "Where are you hurt?"

"It's not mine." Alec looked down at himself, running his gore-covered hands across his filthy jacket. For several seconds, he tried unsuccessfully to clean them, but there was nowhere on his clothes that didn't just move the blood around, so he gave up, letting them hang loosely at his sides.

A policeman in full SWAT gear grabbed Alec by the shoulder and bodily pulled him back toward the command post. Alec allowed himself to be led and Max had no choice but to follow. As they moved away from the building, more policemen began swarming into it. It was useless, Max knew, but they were just doing their job.

She and Alec were taken to the RV/headquarters. Almost as soon as they arrived the door burst open and the commander bolted down the steps. He too stopped short, shocked by Alec's appearance. "Tell me what happened in there," the man bellowed, "and make it fast!"

Alec held up a hand, almost like someone who had a hangover and the noise was hurting his ears. "I took care of it. He's in the back office."

"I know that, you moron. My men just radioed me that they've found the body."

"Yeah," Alec frowned, like the guy wasn't too bright. "Like I said, I took care of it."

"What happened?" the man demanded again.

Alec leaned to one side, grimacing and placing a hand against his ribs. "He was about to start taking out the hostages. I stopped him."

"You hurt, son?" the man asked and Alec jumped at the phrase.

"Had a little trouble getting the gun away from him." Alec's mouth quirked up at one side. "He really didn't want to give it to me."

"Alec, you sure you're ok?" Max asked. She could see a bruise forming on the cheek facing her, roughly fist sized.

Alec wiped a hand across his face, smearing the blood and making himself look even more ghoulish. "Accidentally hit an artery. I don't recommend it."

"You shot him?"

"No, I tore his head off with my bare hands."

The commander's eyes widened and Max could tell he was halfway to believing him. "Not the time for joking, Alec," she muttered and smacked him. Alec winced, just a tiny flutter of his eyelashes, but it let her know that it had been harder than he was letting on to bring the other transgenic down.

"Yes, I shot him." Alec turned to look at her, his eyes more serious. "I had to, Max. The witnesses… He wouldn't listen. He… He wasn't going any other way."

Max just nodded, accepting it as truth. She'd hoped for better, but sometimes Manticore's programming was just too deeply ingrained. Alec and the hostages walking out of the building relatively unscathed would have to be good enough for her. This was already enough of a PR nightmare. She didn't need more. "Can we go?" she asked the commander.

"Not until we have an official statement."

"I shot him," Alec said tiredly. "What more do you want?"

"How about for you to drop the attitude and show my some respect," the man said angrily. "We didn't have to bring you into this and the second we do I end up with a body on my hands. So just can it, kid. I've been at this for twelve years and I think I know what I'm doing." Alec smirked and it further infuriated the cop. "You think that's funny?"

All of the warmth drained from Alec's eyes, eyes that had seen far too much in such a young life. The cop almost took a step back, startled, but stopped himself. He'd been thinking of Alec as a stupid kid, with more attitude than anything else, and now he could see the difference.

"Twelve years ago, I was already good enough to sneak in here, kill you, and sneak back out before anyone even knew you were dead." Alec was still smiling, but it wasn't pretty. "I'll show you some respect when you return the favor. I just did your job for you in there, _kid_." Alec's grisly, blood-spattered appearance only added to the effect of his words.

"That's enough, Alec," Max said, and he immediately stood down. The cop looked like he'd received a reprieve when Alec quit looking at him. "Look, he needs to get cleaned up. I will see to it that he gives a _detailed _statement." She glared at Alec to impress her point on him. "The video will be delivered to the police department by nightfall. That be good enough?"

The commander frowned worriedly, unsure of how to deal with the highly unusual situation. He just looked back and forth between them, trying to decide whether or not to let them go.

"She'll kick my ass if I don't do what she says," Alec offered. "She's little, but she's mean."

"And if I don't let you leave?"

Max scowled, while Alec's grin turned predatory. "We're talking right now as a courtesy," he said mildly. "Max and I can leave whenever we want to."

"You're that good, are you?" the man asked, one eyebrow raised.

"_Better_."

"All right," Max cut in angrily. "I get it. You're both big macho guys. Can we knock off the pissing contest and go home?"

"Classy, Max," Alec said wearily, but nodded his head.

A uniformed officer strode toward them and stopped, facing his boss. "The hostages are all fine and they're saying this guy jumped the other one when he was about to shoot a woman."

"Thank you," the commander said. "Go find Robbins to drive these two back." The officer nodded and strode away. "I want that statement by _tonight_," he said to Alec.

"You know where to find us," Alec replied.

* * *

Max steered a very pliant Alec back through the gates. Their driver hadn't said a word on the way back, perhaps even more wary since Alec was wearing the evidence of just how lethal a transgenic could be. Meanwhile, Alec had turned subdued and she could tell the drying blood was bothering him. 

A crowd quickly gathered, frightened and curious about what had happened and needing to know whether Alec was hurt. He smiled through it all, reassuring them, though Max could see it didn't reach his eyes. She just continued to push him forward past the crowd of concerned well-wishers.

Finally, when she saw his smile was becoming brittle, she snapped, "Don't you people have things to do?" Some of them dared to mutter 'no', but a glare sent them scurrying away just as she and Alec reached her apartment building. She kept a hand on his arm as they walked up the stairs. Arriving at her door, she pushed it open and nudged Alec to go in ahead of her.

"This is your place," he said dully.

"I have a working shower," Max said. "We've got to get you clean. The stink is bothering me."

"We? You gonna join me?" he said with raised eyebrows. There was no real enthusiasm behind it though. It was more Alec trying to conform to what she expected of him.

"Go." She pointed toward the bathroom. "Wash. And give me your cell phone."

"Yes, Ma'am." He winced as he took the phone out of his pocket and threw it to her.

She caught it and then followed him worriedly as he moved toward the bathroom. He still wasn't really talking, which wasn't like him. "You need help?" she asked, keeping her voice businesslike.

He turned then and really looked at her. His hair was matted and his face was still streaked with blood, smeared where he'd tried to wipe it off. He was a mess. And he was looking at her like he needed something. She just didn't know what, couldn't read him. There was more to it than having to shoot the transgenic. She could feel it.

"I wish…"

"What?" she asked.

He closed his eyes, locking himself away. "Nothing," he said quietly. Alec turned away, walked into the bathroom and firmly closed the door.

Max shook her head, feeling somehow bereft without him. The room seemed darker, somehow just… less. Worse, she felt like she'd failed him somehow.

Max brought the cell phone up and started making calls. She needed a fresh set of clothes for Alec and somewhere set up so that he could quickly make the statement for the police. That finished, Max paced back and forth, listening to the sound of the shower. She hardly noticed when Dalton showed up with an extra set of clothes. He threw them in the bathroom, then quickly left. By the time she heard the water shut off, Max knew the water had to be cold, and she worriedly continued pacing while Alec moved around inside the bathroom.

Just when she was ready to go in and check on him, Alec finally reemerged. The transformation was startling. It wasn't just that he was clean. He was closed down tighter than a drum. Before she would have said he was perfectly fine. Max knew better now. He wasn't anywhere near fine. He'd just locked it all away.

"Thanks for the clothes." He gave her a friendly smile. "Guess I'll have to add a new outfit to the next supply run. My old ones are a lost cause."

"You ok?"

"Sure," he said, frowning. She could almost feel him mentally checking to make sure nothing was showing he didn't want her to see. "Why?"

"Even before the hostage thing… I could tell something was wrong. I haven't had a chance to talk to you since we saw the doctor. You've been avoiding me."

"I've been busy," Alec said, not quite meeting her gaze.

"You've been weird. Ever since I told you about the cure." She knew her tone was accusatory, but it was too late to fix that.

Alec stood very still, wheels turning, then finally he said, "I'm trying to be happy for you, Max."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He shook his head sadly, the mask slipping. "It means the cure for you and Logan… I…"

"Just say it, Alec. You know I suck at this stuff. If you don't say it, I won't get it."

Alec almost smiled at that, but it quickly faded. "Max, I was just starting to breathe again. After Berrisford, after Rachel, after everything Manticore did, even living in this hole, I was starting to breathe again. _You_ did that."

"I didn't do anything."

"The cure," Alec said, paying no attention to her denial, "it's going to help you, but it's going to take all of that away."

Max had no idea what to say. This was the Alec she so rarely saw, the frighteningly honest Alec who was all seriousness. Her self-reliant Alec was admitting how much he relied on her, how badly he needed her, and how afraid he was of losing her. She remembered the look he'd given her in the car, the hunger and desperation he'd worn so openly. "Alec-"

"No, Max. It's ok." He took a step back from her, though she knew it was more than just physical distance he was putting between them. "You deserve some happiness."

"I do," she said, and Alec actually flinched. "We _all_ do," she added.

"Sure," he said half-heartedly. Then before she could say anything else, he squared his shoulders, pulling himself back together. "You set up someplace I can make the video for the police?" He waited for her to nod. "Good. Let's get it done. Maybe then I can get some sleep."

* * *

Max stood on the other side of the room listening while Alec sat at a table and spoke into the camera. There was no smirk, no humor in his face as he recounted the facts of what had happened earlier. It made him look even more exhausted. She listened to his steady voice and imagined it was very much what X5-494 had sounded like giving a report. 

As she had requested, it was a detailed accounting. Alec had walked in, tried to talk the other transgenic down, the guy had lost it and Alec had been forced to act. The only real surprise was that he'd attempted to staunch the bleeding until it had become obvious it was futile. That explained all the blood Alec had been wearing and the time lapse for his exit.

Finally, he wound down. Alec nodded and one of the dozen others who'd shown up to watch the proceedings shut the camera off.

"Mole, you'll make certain it gets into the right hands?" Max asked.

"Sure," the scaly-skinned transgenic answered. "The cops and I get along great. I'll send 'em some cookies with it."

Alec rose and Max immediately started forward when she saw him falter. Alec, however, waved her back. "S'ok," he said, breathing harder than he should have been, his hands braced on the table to steady himself. "Just got a little dizzy."

"You sure?" Max asked. She glanced around the room to see everyone was watching him worriedly.

"Yeah." Alec straightened again and gave them a tight smile. "Just tired."

"No kidding. Probably haven't slept more than ten hours this week," Mole muttered.

"Is that true?" Max asked.

Alec just shrugged. Max eyed him, wishing she could tell what he was thinking. He didn't give her the time though. Instead he began moving toward the door.

"Been a long day, guys. I'll see you tomorrow," he said. There were a few answering goodbyes and he walked out.

"All right, Mole," Max said. "What's up with him?"

The lizard-looking man stared down at her, apparently more surly than normal. "Kid won't sleep. I used to think maybe he was one of you guys that didn't need any. He was here all hours of the day and night."

"Alec has more normal sleep patterns," Max said. "I think." In truth, now that she thought of it she really didn't know whether or not he was like her. He did always seem to be available whenever she needed him, but that didn't mean he wasn't giving up sleep to help her.

"He hides it well. Kind of impressive really," Mole said. "Works pretty good for a guy who's ready to keel over. He compensated that night when he was so tired his vision got blurry."

"Compensated?"

"Shot that guy anyway. Couldn't see worth a crap, but he figured it out in just a few seconds and adjusted his aim. Like I said, impressive." Mole puffed on his cigar. "Course he nearly got me killed, so I drugged him when we got back. Slept for twenty hours straight. Vision problem cleared right up."

"And no one told me about this?"

Mole snorted. "Not my business to be telling you about your own boyfriend."

"We're not…"

"I _know_," Mole said. "Trust me. We _all_ know. And now that the Ordinary's found a cure, it's gonna be even worse."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max snapped.

"I'm not your keeper or your mama. Figure it out yourself," he said and left the office.

Max followed him out into the main room that served as their command and was met with a sea of faces. And wasn't it just perfect that every last one of them was staring daggers at her. Alec was hurting and somehow she had gotten the blame. They hadn't even looked this angry when she'd told them about the meat shortage. Apparently, Alec ranked even higher than food.

Max stalked out of the building, ignoring the accusatory glances, and walked in the direction of Alec's apartment. It didn't take as long as she'd thought before she saw him ahead of her, moving more slowly than he should have been. He actually looked like he was… ambling. Alec normally had a laid-back, almost loose-limbed gracefulness about his walk, but this was more than that.

As they neared his building, she saw him stop and lean a hand against the brick wall beside him, holding himself up. She was about to start forward when he straightened and once again began his slow walk into the building. She followed him inside and, as she approached the door to his apartment, was surprised to see that it had been left open.

"I know you followed me, Max," she heard him call from inside. "Don't just stand out there staring."

Chagrined, Max walked into the apartment and closed the door behind her. The only lamp cast a dim light, but it was enough for her to see Alec sitting slouched on the sofa.

"There a reason you're following me?"

"You wanna tell me why you haven't been sleeping? Apparently everyone's noticed but me."

"And there you have it, question and answer."

"You…" Max trailed off as she realized what he'd said. Everyone had noticed but _her_. He wasn't sleeping, because _she_ hadn't noticed he wasn't sleeping.

Alec ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Just need to rest. I'll be fine."

"Why don't I believe you?"

Alec did look up at that, a grim smile appearing. "Because you never do."

"Please," she sniffed. "I trust you with nearly everything that goes on around here."

"But not with you."

"You back me on jobs all the time."

Alec looked so tired and frustrated, he didn't know what to say. He shook his head, then let it fall back against the sofa as if his neck were tired of holding it up. "Just sit down, Max," he finally said. "Logan… Once you're cured, you won't be around much anymore."

"Alec, I'm not leaving," she answered stubbornly.

"I meant me, Max," he said, brutal honestly in his voice. He wasn't looking at her, maybe couldn't. "You won't have time for me."

"You love me." It was a statement, not a question. Not exactly subtle either. She'd always been too direct. She didn't know any other way to be. The thought had come into her mind and it had come out of her mouth.

Alec raised his head and looked straight at her, eyes dark in the dim light. She hadn't realized how much she'd come to rely on being able to see his eyes. His face was misleading. He'd learned years ago to control his expression, was a master at it. He couldn't hide those eyes from her, though. They told her things she needed to know when the rest of him wasn't willing. But now the darkness that had so often been her friend was keeping her from seeing him clearly.

"You love me. Just tell me the truth, Alec." He was silent, watching her and Max simply waited.

"I do," he answered and she could hear the vow in his tone. Max suddenly felt as if her heart were too large for her chest. It banged against her ribs furiously and yet it wasn't painful. She felt alive… warm and _gloriously_ alive. She hadn't known she needed to hear the words, but now that she had, it was as if everything that she had been thinking and feeling realigned into an entirely different pattern, one that suddenly made _sense_.

"Doesn't matter." Alec smiled, embarrassed by his admission. "The cure. Logan. 48 hours will be up tomorrow morning."

"It matters," she said. Max moved forward and sat down on the sofa. She didn't keep a safe distance. She sat down right beside him, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, her thigh brushing along his. She turned into him and he instinctively put an arm around her. She brought a hand up and set it against his chest so that she could feel his heartbeat as well as hear it where her head rested against him.

"Max, what are you-"

"Sleep," she said. "We'll worry about the cure tomorrow." She'd worry about what this meant. She'd worry about Logan. She'd worry about it _all_ tomorrow. Right now, Alec was hurting and that took precedence. "Just sleep, Alec."

She felt him relax his muscles one by one and then finally he rested his head against hers. For the first time since Logan had told her about the cure, she was suddenly at peace. Max had intended to wait until Alec fell asleep, but it was her own eyes that she felt growing heavy.

* * *

Max woke to the sound of beeping. It was coming from very close to her ear and she realized it was Alec's watch. His arm was still wrapped around her. At some point during the night, Alec had stretched out, resting his head on the arm of the sofa. Max had sleepily followed, comfortably pressed between Alec and the back of the sofa. 

She felt more than saw Alec bring his other hand up to stop the alarm on his watch. His hand dropped to her shoulder, his fingers slowly sliding over it then down her arm. She could feel the heat from his hand through her clothing and Max's skin tingled where he had touched her. Her arm was lying across his chest and she tightened her hold, her fingers splayed across his ribs, as she raised her head to look at him.

Alec was wide awake and looked as if he had been for some time. His tired eyes were watching her every move, sorrow lining his face, although he smiled at her. "Morning."

"What was the alarm?"

"It's been 48 hours," he answered.

"The virus." Max felt her heart speed up and knew Alec could feel it too. A simple touch would activate it, just like the virus meant for Logan. She looked down, her eyes traveling from their feet back up to Alec's face. Clothing separated them. There was no skin to skin contact.

She met Alec's eyes. His face was now carefully neutral, but his eyes… He looked… broken. More painful though was the resignation she saw there.

"You're almost free," Alec said.

"Did you sleep at all?"

Alec smiled again. "Some."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"You never do."

Max couldn't have been more aware of him if she'd tried. She was practically wrapped around him, one leg thrown over his, pressed against him shoulder to ankle. "What now?"

"Touch me, Max. All you have to do is touch me."

* * *

_More soon…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation…

_Allrighty then… where were we?_

Chapter Five

* * *

"Touch me, Max. All you have to do is touch me." 

Max couldn't seem to look away from his too-expressive eyes. They were beautiful in the light of day, as clear and communicative now as they had been dark and unreadable the night before.

"It's all right, Max," he said, a hint of his usual playfulness appearing. "You know you want to."

"I could hit you. That would count as touching."

"Be gentle," he smirked. "I bruise."

"I know." Max brought her free hand up and lightly ran the back of her fingers over the bruise on his cheek. It should have been fading by now, but it still stood out starkly from Alec's pale skin.

"That should do it," Alec sighed. "No more virus for you."

Max's hand fell back to his chest and trailed down to his hand resting flat against his abdomen. "Maybe we should make sure."

It was her turn to hear Alec's heart rate increase and she heard the barest intake of breath as she twined her fingers through his and brought his hand up to place a kiss in the center of his palm.

"Max, you don't have to-"

"Are you talking back, soldier?" Max frowned.

Alec swallowed heavily. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Good." Max released his hand and levered herself up so that they were within a whisper of their lips touching. He was watching her, as if hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. Max could only hear Alec's own words ringing in her head. When she'd infected Logan, Alec had suddenly appeared, taunting her with what she'd done. _Now you didn't kiss him or anything, did you?_

Max felt a smile spreading across her face, the knowing smile of a woman at last in control of her own fate. "I think we should make absolutely sure, don't you?" she asked, hearing how breathy her own voice sounded.

Max wanted to purr as he at last brought his hands to her waist, pulling her closer so that they were chest to chest. "Well, don't you want to be sure?" she asked, her eyes on his as she shifted, fitting herself against him more comfortably, making sure he understood just how well they complemented each other. "Don't you?"

"Yes," he said almost desperately. "Oh, please, yes."

Max closed the distance, telling him everything with her mouth and body that she hadn't with her voice. Alec had laid himself bare the night before with his admission and she hadn't been brave enough to do the same, maybe still wasn't.

Alec wrapped his arms around her, though he didn't cage her and Max knew he'd done it purposely. She was free to stop, free to leave any time she wanted. He drew back and studied her face as if it were the first time he'd ever seen it. "So beautiful," he murmured, smiling when she smiled.

Without warning Alec sat up, bringing her with him, now sitting in his lap, her legs straddling him. He kissed her slowly, tenderly. He kissed her eyelids that had fluttered closed. He kissed the tip of her nose. He kissed his way across her cheek to her ear, nuzzling and kissing his way down her neck. She was wearing a shirt with a deep V and he used it as a guide, making a maddeningly slow path toward her breasts.

"Alec," she said, panting. Max ran her hands into his hair, relishing the silky feel of it against her fingers. She'd thought it might be almost animal-like between two transgenics. She knew what it was like when she was in heat. She'd expected it would be almost the same. Instead Alec's touch was slow, deliberate, almost reverent. "Alec, _please_."

"Shhh," he soothed, at last coming back to meet her lips in a searing kiss. He then pulled back, drawing a frustrated sound from her and this time it was Alec's turn to smile. It was pleased, almost wolfish, and Max desperately wished he _would_ devour her. This leisurely torture was driving her crazy.

Alec kissed her neck again, breathing in deeply, clearly delighting in being so close, being able to savor her scent.

Max groaned. "Alec, you're killing me."

"Battle plans," he said, a wicked grin appearing. "You're always telling me I don't think things through first, Max. This attack is still in the early stages." He followed the words, however, with another kiss that had her on fire. He'd found his way beneath her shirt and his hands nearly scorched her skin as he crushed her to him.

Max wanted to scream when Alec's phone rang. He tore his mouth away from hers and fumbled in his pocket for his cell. He looked at the display and went very still. Without even having to be told Max knew who it was and held out her hand for the phone. Max slid off Alec's lap and sat beside him on the sofa as she answered the call, surprised at the loss of warmth as she lost contact with Alec's body.

"Hey, Logan."

"_Max, is that you_?"

"Yeah."

"_You sound a little out of breath. Are you ok_?"

Max felt guilt begin to crawl over her skin, not to mention embarrassment at talking to Logan while her lips still felt swollen from Alec's attentions. She and Logan were going to have to talk and _soon_.

"_Max_?"

"I'm here. I'm fine." Alec had taken her hand in his and was rubbing his thumb in circles across her over-sensitized skin. Max almost groaned. She was so fine.

"_The 48 hours are up_," Logan said. "_Since you're using Alec's phone, I assume you're with him_."

"Yup." She glared at Alec to let him know he was distracting her and to knock it off. He closed his eyes in resignation and sighed. He obeyed though. He released her hand and she suddenly felt cold.

"_You want to meet me at the doctor's or do you want me to pick you up_?"

Max watched as Alec stood up, unable to sit still while she was talking to Logan. She scrambled to her feet when she saw him waver, putting a hand to his head like he was dizzy again. Max turned him to face her and instead of looking flushed as she'd expected Alec was even paler. As a matter of fact, he looked almost ill. She put a hand against his forehead.

"Alec, you're hot."

He laughed. "That's what they tell me."

"_Max, what's going on_?"

"No, Alec, you're _hot_." Which again made it odd that he was so pale.

Alec pulled back out of her reach and walked to the kitchenette. He filled a cup from a pitcher in the small fridge, and drank the glass in one long swallow. He then leaned against the counter, his arms braced.

"Alec?"

"It's ok, Max."

Max walked up behind him and she could feel the heat radiating from him now. When she'd woken up, she'd been lying beside him so long, she'd been used to it. She hadn't realized or thought about it, but his body temperature must have been higher than normal. It was the real reason she'd felt so cold when she'd moved away from him on the sofa.

"_Max, talk to me_," Logan ordered.

"Meet us at Third and Oak," Max said, still watching Alec. "Fast as you can." Alec's eyes were closed, his chest almost heaving he was breathing so hard.

The new virus. This wasn't just from the fight with the other transgenic or exhaustion. Alec was sick.

"Thought I'd have longer," Alec muttered.

"What?"

"Never had a chance with you, did I?"

"Alec, we need to get you to the doctor."

He turned then and looked at her. "You should go. Logan's waiting on you. Let the doctor do the tests and then you'll know if the cure worked."

"He needs to look at _you_."

"I'll just rest here. You go. Meet Logan. It's what all of this was for."

"Alec, you're not getting rid of me," Max said angrily.

"Max, for once could you not fight me… please… Just…"

Max caught him as his legs gave out and gently eased him to the floor.

"Alec, tell me what's wrong," Max ordered.

"Don't tell Logan, Max. He won't understand." Alec's breathing was getting shallower, his speech more slurred. "S'ok," he said. "Never happened."

"Alec, stay with me." Max pulled him close, her panic rising exponentially. "Stay awake!" She'd begged him to sleep the night before and now she was begging him not to.

"No virus," he mumbled. "Be with Logan. Happy. S'ok."

_Thought I'd have longer_.

Max wanted to shake him. She wanted to scream. Alec had _known_ he was sick. He'd _known_ the new virus was hurting him and he hadn't said a word. He'd avoided her and waited for the 48 hours to be up. Alec had allowed himself to get sicker, allowed the virus the full 48 hours to take hold, just so she could have her cure.

"Incubate."

"What?" Max picked up the cell phone she'd dropped on the floor.

"Breeding partner," he said.

"Yes, you were my breeding partner," Max said, humoring him as she began to dial.

"Incubate virus," Alec said. "Breed virus for you."

"Alec, what are you talking about?"

"Finally obeyed orders."

The phone rang and rang and at last it was answered. "What?"

"Mole, get to Alec's apartment now," Max commanded. "He's down." She didn't wait for a reply before hanging up.

When she looked back down, Alec was unconscious, a dead weight in her arms, his breathing painfully shallow.

"Hold on, Alec. Just hold on."

* * *

_-sigh- Never easy for these two, is it? More soon…_


	6. Chapter 6

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation…

_Thank you so, so much for the kind reviews. Please forgive the lack of Alec in this chapter. He's a bit busy being unconscious and all._

Chapter Six

* * *

Mole met her outside Alec's building in a minute flat. He wasn't alone though. He had about twenty people with him, all grim faced and silent. The group came to an abrupt halt seeing Alec's lifeless body in her arms and then looked to her for orders. There was no shouting or questioning. They were soldiers and _Man Down_ meant you closed your mouth and you kept an eye out for what had caused it.

"We need to get him to Third and Oak. Logan will drive us from there." She turned to Mole. "I'm gonna need a clear route. Quickest you can manage."

Mole just nodded, turned around and started shouting orders. People scattered in various directions to get whatever they needed.

"What's wrong with him?" one of the remaining X-series asked, little more than a child.

"I think the virus," Max said. She was once again sitting on the ground, now with Alec's head in her lap. He was pale to the point of being nearly translucent. He was burning up too, but not sweating which was even more worrisome. It meant his internal cooling system had already shut down. He didn't have long and she suddenly wanted to shake him again, furious that he had let it go so long just so that she could have her cure. She'd gotten by this long without touching Logan. She could have gone on as long as necessary if the cure required _this_.

"You mean like what you did to the Ordinary?" the same child asked and one of the older Xs cuffed him on the back of the head.

Max wanted to yell or hit something, but she just nodded. Manticore had managed to do it again with a little help from her. Only this time, her virus could kill both of the men she loved.

Mole took a cell phone out of his pocket and answered it. Max paid no attention to what he was saying until he squatted in front of her. "Time to go," he said gruffly. "I've got a group of X6s clearing a path through the sewers all the way there. You'll have a clear corridor to run."

"Thanks," Max said, rising and pulling Alec up with her. There was no response whatsoever as she pulled one of his arms across her shoulders. It was going to be awkward, but she would get him there.

Mole just shook his head. He grabbed Alec and hefted him over his shoulder. When Max stared at him in surprise, he said, "Are you gonna lead the way or do I have to do that too?"

Max shook herself out of her stupor and began jogging, heading for the closest sewer entrance. Glancing behind her she saw Mole keeping pace, Alec still slung over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Apparently Mole had a soft spot in his scaly armor for his SIC. Alec somehow managed to be both an effective leader and yet still a friend. She only managed half of that. These days Alec called her prickly. The rest of them still called her a bitch. She could only hope that Alec would live long enough to call her either one of them again.

* * *

Max sat in the chair facing the doctor's desk, bouncing her leg nervously and biting her nails. They'd taken Alec away from her almost as soon as she walked in the doors and told her to wait. So she was waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Logan said, keeping his voice calm and soothing. The effect, however, was only to irritate her further. She wasn't really sure who she was angriest with: Alec for not telling her, herself for not noticing _anything_ about what was going on, or Logan for seeming to think she was overreacting.

"This is my fault, Logan. I did this," she snapped. "I asked him to do this and look what happened."

"_We_ asked him," Logan replied evenly, "and Alec agreed. This is not your fault."

"He _knew_ he was sick," she said furiously. "He was sick last night and he brushed it off. Told me he was just tired. He let himself get this bad so that I could have the cure. He did it for me."

Logan was wearing an expression that said he didn't quite believe it. He doubted that Alec was capable of anything so unselfish. He didn't voice the opinion though, and it was a good thing or Max might have smacked that incredulous look off his face. He hadn't seen everything Alec had done since the siege had begun. She had. Not as much as she should have, but she was trying to make that right now.

The office door flew open and Dr. Miller entered. He wasn't looking quite as composed or as cheerful as the other times she'd seen him and she immediately stood. "How is he?"

"We're still trying to bring his temperature down," the man answered gravely.

"How did this happen?" Max demanded. "I thought you said the virus wouldn't hurt either one of us!"

"It shouldn't have," the doctor replied, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "That virus might have done some damage to an ordinary person, but it shouldn't have even fazed a transgenic."

"What does that mean?" Max asked.

"Has he been severely injured recently?"

"He was shot during the Jam Pony incident."

"Did the wound heal well?"

"I assume so," Max said, feeling guilty that she'd never bothered to check. "He seemed fine in only a few days. He wasn't showing a limited range of motion."

The doctor nodded thoughtfully. "Anything else?"

"He… he hasn't been sleeping," Max answered and she could feel Logan's eyes on her wanting to know how she knew that.

"Enough to impair him?" the doctor asked worriedly. "Most of you have shorter sleep cycles."

"It was bad enough at one point his vision was blurring. One of the others drugged him to get him to rest. Apparently it's been an ongoing problem."

"Any reason you know of for the insomnia?"

_Me_. "Too much to do and not enough time to do it."

The doctor nodded again. "I imagine your immune systems are all working overtime because of the contaminants in Terminal City. Persistent fatigue would have further taxed his body and given the virus a better chance of overrunning him." He ran a hand through his hair again, adding the information to what he was already working with.

"Can I see him?" Max asked. She _needed_ to see him.

"Give us some time." The doctor shook his head. "We're running some tests now, then we'll know more."

"What about Max?" Logan asked.

"What about me?" Max asked impatiently. She wasn't the one _dying_ right now because of this scheme.

"She's fine. Clear," Dr. Miller said offhandedly, his mind elsewhere. "The new virus did the trick."

Max just stood there in stunned silence. They'd taken some blood not long after she'd arrived, but she'd assumed it was to check against Alec's virus. Max felt Logan walk up behind her, wrap his arms around her and place a kiss on the top of her head.

"Thank you, Doctor Miller," Logan said almost reverently.

For her part, Max didn't know what to say. It seemed wrong thanking him when Alec was somewhere else in the building alone and so ill as a result of what they'd done.

"We'll leave you to work. You'll call us if anything changes with Alec?" Logan asked.

"Certainly," the doctor nodded.

Max twisted out of Logan's arms and turned to face him. "I can't just leave him," she said incredulously.

"There's nothing you can do here, Max. Alec's in good hands and Dr. Miller will do everything he can. He'll call when he knows more," Logan said reasonably.

And Max realized that was the difference. That was the difference between Logan and Alec. Logan was Eyes Only. He saw. He noticed. He reported. He set plans and other people in motion and waited for a call or a report. Alec _was_ motion. He _was_ action. Alec couldn't wait for a call. He took care of it himself. Eyes Only reported injustice toward the transgenics. Alec went and beat the crap out of the men who'd killed Biggs. Eyes Only talked about the conditions the transgenics were living in because of the lockdown on Terminal City. Alec led the supply runs to keep them all from starving. Maybe that wasn't really fair, but at the moment she was so angry she couldn't see straight and it _felt_ true.

Logan had said he'd given her up, he'd said she was free, and then kept showing up with latex gloves so he could touch her, keep drawing her back in. Alec had never had her in the first place, never expected to and had given her up, sacrificed himself so that he could free her from the virus. He'd freed her so she could leave him without ever knowing he loved her in the first place.

Logan was willing to leave Alec here and wait for a call. He had the cure. He had what he wanted. Mission accomplished. Alec had given himself, thinking that if he succeeded Max would walk away from him. Accomplishing his mission meant losing her and he'd done it anyway to see her happy.

Logan loved her. Alec loved her passionately.

"Go home, Logan," she said, coming to a sudden decision. "I won't leave him."

"Max," Logan said, sounding wounded. He reached out for her and she took a step back. Partly because she'd been doing it for so long it was instinctive and partly because she couldn't bear it right now. Alec was alone, sick, maybe dying. She didn't deserve to be cured. Or comforted.

"Go home," she said again and Logan recognized it for what it was. A dismissal. "I'll call you."

Logan looked like he'd been sucker punched. "You _do_ love him."

"Yeah." It was so easy to admit it now. Alec had made it unbelievably obvious to her. Zack had given himself for her and now Alec. Max knew what love was. Her love for Zack was different, but it was love all the same. She couldn't thank him for what he'd done, though she remembered it with every beat of her heart. Alec, however, was still alive. She had to make sure that he knew how she felt.

She and Logan both turned at the sound of Dr. Miller's pager. The man pulled it from his belt and looked at the screen. "He's crashing," he said, already starting to run.

"Go home," Max said one more time and then sprinted after the doctor, leaving Logan behind.

* * *

_More soon… I'm typing… Honest…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation…

_We're in the home stretch. Thanks for sticking with this one._

Chapter Seven

* * *

Max paced outside the room, questioning and re-questioning herself whether this was the right place for Alec. This was a research facility, not a hospital. Still, they knew about the viruses and it wasn't like a normal hospital would know what to do with a transgenic anyway.

Dr. Miller finally stepped out of the room and motioned for her to come over. "We have him stabilized for the moment. There isn't much we can do to be honest. Try and keep him comfortable, keep his temp from spiking again like when you brought him in, and hope his body catches up."

Hope. Not one of her stronger points. Cynicism, ass-kicking, general mayhem, distrust, emotional distance… those she could handle just fine. Hope might be a problem.

Max looked into the room where Alec was lying. "Can… can I touch him?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Is it safe? The virus… like with Logan."

The doctor finally caught on and shook his head. "Different sort of virus."

"I didn't… Did I set this off? When I touched him? After the 48 hours were up?"

Again the doctor shook his head. "His virus was coded for yours, not the other way round. His virus is just taking advantage of his fatigue."

She could touch him. Max didn't bother to hide the relief she felt at that, but it was immediately replaced by the more present problem. "Level with me," Max said straightly. "Can he do this?"

The doctor looked at her and Max had the troubling notion he was trying to assess how she would react to bad news. "I hope so." He hesitated, then added, "He's lived through worse."

"Did he really ask you for a gun when he came back sick at Manticore?"

The doctor blinked, startled by the question. "How did you-"

"Alec told me that's how he knew you from before."

The doctor's expression darkened and for the first time he wasn't the pleasant, helpful physician she'd come to know. He was something far more sinister, far uglier. He was a man capable of doing the things that Manticore required.

"He was already half dead by the time he got back from the mission. It wasn't pretty. We knew what the virus would do in theory, but we'd never actually seen it run its full course."

"You mean kill someone."

"Yes. To be honest, he was in such bad shape, I don't know how he managed to get back to the base."

"So, he was miserable, dying and you refused to kill him," Max said. She could tell from the look on his face that the doctor didn't want to discuss it, but now that she had the chance she couldn't deny her curiosity. "Manticore put down wounded animals. Why not Alec?"

"The virus was intended to be lethal and they wanted to know why he wasn't dead. He was isolated and we were ordered not to give any treatment so the effects of the virus wouldn't be impacted. The results were to be turned over to the bio-warfare division."

"How long?"

"Three weeks."

Max's jaw dropped. "_Weeks_?"

"He was supposed to die," the doctor said almost defensively. "He _should_ have. It would have been easier."

Max shook her head. Alec's survival skills had always been impressive. He adapted, he schemed, he fought and he survived. He'd asked for a gun, even as his own body was refusing to give up. "So it went on and on, but Alec just wouldn't die."

"Transgenic constitution," the doctor said grimly. "He just wouldn't go."

"He begged you for a gun."

"He asked for a lot of things." None of them pleasant to remember, Max could see. "I left not long after that. Just couldn't stomach it anymore." Dr. Miller cleared his throat suddenly, shrugging the tension from his shoulders as he pushed the memories back to whatever dark place he kept them. "You should go sit with him. I'll check back shortly."

He left and Max had no other choice but to enter the room. Alec was lying on the bed, though it was more like a cot. She supposed it was the best they could do since this wasn't actually what they were geared for. Alec was pale as a ghost, still wearing the clothes he had been when she'd brought him in. He was covered in a thin sheen of perspiration, lying deathly still, his breathing shallow. He was hooked up to surprisingly little equipment, but Max knew they were really just monitoring him. A transgenic's system was better than almost anything medicine could offer. Either Alec's body could beat the virus or it couldn't.

Max grabbed a little stool on rollers and moved it to Alec's bedside. The eyes that were the real window into Alec's weary, tarnished soul remained closed, keeping him locked away from her. He looked peaceful and so very young. With his eyes open, she was always aware that he was neither. Once again Max cursed Manticore and its parenting skills that had forced its children to wear nearly impenetrable masks.

"Alec?" Max said, her voice sounding loud in the quiet room. "Can you hear me?" There was no response and Max clenched her fists in frustration. Alec was _never_ quiet. He was never still. Even when he'd been shot during the Jam Pony incident he'd been so… alive. He'd been fast and fighting and quick-witted. He'd been… Alec. To be so still, he had to be dy-

No. He was _sick_. Alec was _sick_.

Max cleared her throat of the sudden constriction there. "You should have seen it, Alec. Logan pissed me off and I sent him home. You would have loved it."

There was no response at all. Alec's face was turned slightly toward her, beautiful even in illness, even under the unforgiving florescent lights. Before she'd even realized what she was doing she brought her hand up and smoothed her fingers over his brow, down the bridge of his nose. She brushed her thumb across his lips and finally set her hand against his too-warm cheek.

"I hope you realize, I'm gonna kick your ass when you wake up. I mean, you've pulled a lot of stunts, but this takes the cake." She watched him, waiting for his telltale smirk to appear to let the world know how proud he was of each and every one of those stunts, but there was nothing.

"You should have _told_ me, Alec," she said angrily. "You should have told me you were sick." Max felt the urge to shake him, to scream, to hit something welling up inside her again. "You are more important than the cure, you idiot. You were more important back when I couldn't let your head explode even though I wanted you dead myself. How much more important do you think you are now?" She frowned furiously. "Of all times to go noble. I count on you to look after yourself, you moron."

Max leaned forward and kissed him, matching his full lips to hers. It was more than a chaste kiss. She was reminding him he was still alive and that she was waiting for him to wake up. Max ended the kiss, but couldn't bring herself to completely break contact with him. She set her forehead against his.

"So I guess you still like me a little?"

Max gasped and sat back heavily on the rolling stool. Alec's beautiful green eyes, bright with fever, were open. As she watched, a completely self-satisfied grin began to appear on his lips.

"You kiss all the guys you visit in the hospital?" Alec asked, barely more than a croak.

"You jerk!" She stood up so that she could properly look down at him. "You were awake!"

Alec's grin grew, though Max could see how exhausted he was, fighting to stay awake. He brought a hand up and only managed to set it against his chest, although she thought he'd intended to do something more. She leaned forward and took his hand and the resulting sigh let her know she had guessed correctly.

"Hated to interrupt you," he said, the words slurred. "Haven't heard you talk that much since the last time you were trying to inspire the troops."

"Were you listening any more now than you were then?" she asked tartly.

"Always listen to you, Maxie," he said, his eyes already starting to close again.

"But you do whatever you want to anyway," Max muttered, although even to her own ears it sounded more indulgent than angry. She turned at the sound of a knock on the door. "Yes?"

A woman walked in wearing a full police uniform. Max wasn't sure why, but she felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck. The woman wasn't looking at her. She was looking at Alec.

Max saw a blur and the woman's gun was out of her holster and aimed at Alec's head. Not a cop. A transgenic. Not one from Terminal City. No one she knew.

"I snuck into police headquarters," the woman said calmly. "I saw the video you made."

Max dared a glance and saw that Alec's eyes were open again, adrenaline bringing him wide awake.

"You killed 017. You betrayed him and you killed him." Max saw tears run down the woman's face, but her aim never wavered as her finger tightened on the trigger. "You betrayed one of your own, and for that you have to die."

* * *

_The finale tomorrow…_


	8. Chapter 8

**Deadly Fix**

Summary: Max, Alec, the cure, a hostage situation…

_And here you have it. Everyone deserves a happy ending for Christmas. Thanks for all the reviews. They make my day._

Chapter Eight

* * *

Time seemed to slow as Alec stared down the barrel of the gun. He'd run into angry family members, spouses, angry girlfriends, boyfriends, employees, etc, from time to time. People just didn't like it when you killed someone they cared about. Some screamed, some threw things, some had guns. But it had never been another transgenic. It had never been someone capable of moving fast enough to actually take him out. 

The knowledge that he probably couldn't get his muscles to obey anything he asked of them wasn't reassuring. He'd realized about twelve hours after he left the doctor's office that something was wrong. He'd felt light headed, a bit weaker than normal. He'd shrugged it off, but at the twenty-four hour mark, he'd known he was in serious trouble. At that point, he'd come to a simple decision. Suck it up. Max needed the cure and he was the only thing that could make that happen.

Max had caught him off guard when she'd asked for his help with the hostage situation. He'd been going downhill too fast and he'd been trying to rest, thinking maybe it would help him make it through to the forty-eight hour mark without Max being any the wiser. He shouldn't have worried. She hadn't noticed any difference. Alec had though. Taking out 017 had nearly killed him. Literally. He'd almost been too slow to save the hostage the other transgenic had been about to shoot. Worse, Alec hadn't been strong enough to overpower the other man. It had required fighting dirty and even at that Alec had barely managed to win. It was why he'd accidentally hit the artery in the guy's neck. Alec had already been weakening and his aim was off.

Now that he thought about it, he probably should have slept the night before. It might have helped him now. Still, Alec couldn't bring himself to be sorry. Max had been in his arms and he hadn't wanted to waste a minute of it. He'd known how little time he had left.

"Look, let's talk about this," Max said steadily, edging closer to the woman.

"No need."

Alec saw her muscles tightening, a millisecond prelude to his brain being splattered all over the wall behind him.

He and Max moved simultaneously. Alec rolled, falling off the bed to the floor, the bullet passing close enough that he imagined he could feel the breeze. Max blurred forward, knocking the gun aside just as their attacker fired again, causing the second shot to go wide. After that it was an ugly transgenic version of a street fight. Max grappled with the woman, struggling for control while Alec freed himself from the lines still attaching him to the monitoring equipment. Max finally succeeded in forcing the gun out of the woman's hand and Alec snatched it up.

Max and her opponent were now on the floor and Alec rose, moving to stand over them. "Enough," he snarled and both women froze. "Max, back up."

Max slowly disentangled herself. She stood and came back to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, both staring at the woman still sprawled on the floor.

"Finish it," the woman ordered. "What are you waiting for?"

"I didn't want to kill your friend and I don't want to kill you," Alec said plainly. "I will if I have to," he shrugged, "but I don't want to."

The woman began to sob, curling into herself. "Please. Just do it. End this."

Alec looked at Max, unsure of what to do or say. The woman had been ready to kill him and now she'd simply crumbled. Max didn't look like she knew any better than he did.

"I can't do this any more," the other transgenic said, looking up at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "Not without him."

Max frowned and knelt down in front of the other woman, although she was careful not to block Alec's line of fire. "He was your friend?"

"I don't know what to do," the young woman said. "None of this makes any sense anymore."

Alec saw Max stiffen at the words and wondered, but chose not to interfere. "Why didn't you come to Terminal City?" Max asked. "We could have helped you."

"017 said we couldn't trust you." Anger flared in her eyes again as she glanced up at Alec, real hatred burning there. "He was right."

"He was going to kill an innocent woman," Alec replied evenly. "We don't do that. Not anymore," he amended.

"We have standing orders," the woman snapped. "We don't leave witnesses."

"Manticore's gone," Max said sharply. "We don't have standing orders."

"We do. We have to." The woman seemed to crumble again. "It's so much simpler."

It was a feint. Alec had seen it coming. The woman reached forward and grabbed Max, flipping her around. Alec lunged forward simultaneously. He knocked the woman backward and landed on her, his knee planted in her abdomen, his handgun pressing into her chest over her heart. She immediately released Max who sat up and punched the woman furiously, all compassion flown.

"Don't do that again," Max ordered.

Alec looked down at the woman, their eyes meeting. Broken. He could see it written there on her face. She was just one more soul that Manticore had broken. And no matter how much he tried to fix things, it just got worse. It was Manticore's gift that kept on giving. Fix one thing and something else fell apart. He'd told Rachel the truth only to have her run from him to her death. He'd killed the transgenic who'd taken the people hostage, but in doing so had driven this woman to the breaking point. He'd tried to help Max with the cure and probably killed himself in the process. Or worse, he'd found a cure for Max and she was going to leave him for Logan. Alec was tired of trying to fix things only to find they were still broken. Alec was _tired_ of being _broken_.

"What's your designation?" Alec asked, using his best Manticore tone. It was the second time in as many days that he'd had to use it and it pissed him off that it was still necessary. Manticore had screwed them all up so much, it had them longing for the bad old days of taking orders and killing people.

"X5-553," the woman said, then after a second added, "sir."

"017 disobeyed a direct order and that will not be tolerated. I won't tolerate it from you either." The woman swallowed heavily, but didn't respond. "553, you will report to the corner of Anderson and Corbett St. Your contact will be X5-637. You will follow his instructions to the letter. Is that understood? To. The. Letter."

The woman frowned in confusion, tears once again falling. "Sir?"

"_Is that understood_?" Alec barked, digging the gun into her ruthlessly until she nodded. "Good." Alec quickly stood and backed up a step. "Now get up."

553 hesitated, just lying on the floor staring at him for several seconds.

"On your feet, soldier," Alec snapped. "You have your orders. Anderson and Corbett. _Move_."

The woman immediately got up and saluted. Of all things she actually looked relieved, even grateful.

"Now!" Alec barked. "And don't think we won't talk later about your behavior."

553 marched from the room, not daring to look back.

"Max, call Ice. Tell him to meet her there and take her back to TC. Full Manticore mode 'til we can deprogram her."

"Already on it," Max answered.

Alec felt more than saw Max take out a phone and call base. The adrenaline was fading fast. He heard her talking, but couldn't make out the words. He started when he heard a loud clank and realized he'd dropped the gun on the tile floor. He felt Max's arms around him and then everything went black.

* * *

Alec's hearing came back first. It always did. He could hear a voice, though it didn't make much sense. His eyes felt unbelievably heavy as he fought to open them. It didn't really work and even the effort seemed to exhaust him further. He had the sudden absurd notion that maybe his eyes were open and he was just blind. He tried to raise a hand toward his face, but his muscles felt loose, weak, almost useless. 

"Alec?"

Max sounded very far away, her voice worried and tense.

"Come on, Alec," Max said almost angrily. "I'm tired of sitting in this room. Wake up."

Whether it was the instinctive reaction to the order, or his continued efforts to force the darkness away, Alec finally managed to pry his eyes open, first one, then the other. A face swam in his bleary vision, a ring of too-bright light glaring at him from around the shadow. "Max?" he asked, although it probably sounded more like a grunt.

"Yeah," he heard her say, sounding close to tears, which was worrying in and of itself. Max only cried when someone was dying. Or dead.

"M'I dead?"

"What?"

Alec poured all of his concentration into getting his eyes to focus and finally Max's face steadied in his field of vision. "You ok?"

At that she did let out something close to a sob, although it was on a laugh. "I'm fine. How do you feel?"

"M'all right." He felt like he'd been run over by a truck, but that was more than he cared to admit.

"Sure." Max swatted his arm lightly and he winced, as if even that much contact had been too much for his overtaxed body, and closed his eyes. "Alec, I'm sorry. I…"

She sounded panicked and Alec forced his eyes open again, though it seemed to be an even greater effort this time. "S'ok," he said. "Tired."

"Alec, stay awake for me."

The tone, half-pleading, half-command, seemed to clear away more of the cobwebs. Alec took in a deep breath and made a colossal effort to try and straighten up in the bed. He was in his own apartment, which seemed wrong now that he thought of it. He'd been somewhere else the last time he was awake. He was sure of it.

"How did I get here?" Alec asked, frowning. Even the muscles in his face seemed tired. That was certainly a first.

"Dr. Miller said there wasn't anything else he could do for you, so I brought you back here."

"Dr. Miller's real good at that," Alec said, though it sounded more weary than bitter.

"It's not his fault you let it get out of hand," Max snapped.

"Don't hit me again," he said, not quite joking. Alec jumped when he felt her hand sliding across his forehead, brushing his hair back. He hadn't realized he'd closed his eyes again and her gesture startled him back awake.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Nine days."

Well, that got his attention. "Guess I was sick."

"And whose fault was that?" Max said, steel in her tone, though she softened it by running her fingers through his hair.

"Does that mean I slept through a sponge bath?" Alec asked, realizing that he seemed pretty clean for a guy who'd been in bed for over a week.

"Don't look at me," Max said. "Joshua's been here almost as much as I have."

Alec chose not to comment on how wrong it was for a dog to be giving a cat a bath. "You've been here?" he asked carefully, his gaze meeting hers, amazed when she didn't look away.

"Of course," she answered. "You think I'm gonna let you get away with dying when I still owe you an ass-kicking?"

"No good deed goes unpunished," Alec muttered, then quietly, "Logan been keeping you company?"

"Some."

Just that one word had his heart tightening painfully in his chest, though he refused to let it show. He'd hardly dared to believe it when Max had kissed him. He'd known it was a mistake. He'd known she hadn't been thinking clearly, but he just hadn't been able to stop himself. She had been too warm and wonderful, so far beyond his wildest dreams. He'd known he was sick, that it was his last chance and, thanks to the cure, Max would be beyond his reach in a matter of hours.

Then Logan had called and instead of hours, it had all fallen apart in a matter of minutes. For an Ordinary, Logan was an extraordinary pain in the ass.

Looking at Max now, Alec just wasn't sure what to say. He'd assumed he would already be dead at this point. The virus had been too quick, had brought him down too fast. He'd assumed it would save him the grief of seeing Max with Logan, and at the same time, save Max the aggravation of Alec still being a fly in the ointment. And yet, here they were again, knee deep in awkwardness. Alec tried not to be angry, knowing that Logan and Max had been in his apartment while he was unconscious, talking and doing… whatever.

"Don't," Max frowned.

Alec realized he'd been scowling and forced himself to relax. Now that Max had the cure and she and Logan could be together, it didn't matter whether Alec was dead or not. He might as well be, for all Max would care. The cure meant Logan could touch her now and Alec couldn't. Before, when she'd kissed him, she'd been grateful. That was all it had been.

Alec felt lips, soft inviting lips against his own and realized that he'd yet again been trying to fall back asleep. After only a second, the lips became more demanding, far less gentle, an almost bullying demand for attention before they abruptly left him.

"Do you believe it now?" Max asked.

"Believe it?"

Max just shook her head. Alec watched as she lifted the covers and slid beneath them, fitting easily to his side, wrapping one arm around his chest. The sensation felt oddly familiar and Alec wondered if this wasn't the first time Max had been there beside him. Max was still looking at him, her face only inches from his. "I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner, Alec," she said steadily. "I should have."

"Notice?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Will you quit answering everything I say with another question?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It will be when I hit you."

Alec fell silent, just studying her face that was so close to his, close enough that he could reach out and touch it. It was so beautiful and, at the moment, purposefully intent on him.

"Logan and I had a long talk," she said. "He has work to do and so do I, but it's not necessarily the same work anymore."

"He'll find a way to drag you back in," Alec replied. "Always does."

"Maybe so," Max acknowledged. "Logan's a good man. Sometimes he needs help."

Alec couldn't bear to look at her and turned away, but Max wouldn't allow it. She physically turned his face back toward her.

"Tell me what you're thinking." It was a direct command and Alec bristled. He didn't like commands much anymore, despite the instinctive reaction to immediately comply. "Please," she added, softening it.

"I'm thinking I want to kiss you. I'm thinking I would rather gouge out my eyes than see you anywhere near Logan ever again. I'm thinking I _want_ you. I'm thinking I want you with _me_, 'cause I like Logan and all, but I like me better." Alec couldn't help a slight grin from appearing. "Not that it should surprise you."

Max didn't smile in return. She simply looked at him as if memorizing his features. It stretched on until Alec couldn't stand it any longer. "Tell me what you're thinking," he said, repeating her own order.

Max hesitated. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. "I don't like you better," she finally said.

"Thanks for that," Alec replied. "I'd kind of like to go to sleep now, if you want to leave."

"I don't like you better, Alec." Max leaned in closer, almost nose to nose with him. "I love you more."

"I… you…"

Max kissed him fiercely, demanding that he believe her. She pulled away just far enough to speak. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Cute, Max."

She gave him a knowing smile. "I was going for sexy, but I guess cute will do."

Alec desperately wanted to stay awake, but he could feel himself fading, the edges of his vision blurring slightly, his eyelids drooping. "Meant for you… be free," he said, hearing his own words slurring. "Logan's better. Not so much baggage."

"You want me to be with Logan?"

"Uh huh."

"Why don't I believe you?"

Alec sighed, feeling Max rest her head against his chest as he drifted off, contentment like he hadn't felt in, well… ever, washing over him. "Never do."

Max let out an answering sigh as she settled herself more comfortably beside him. "Good thing, too."

* * *

_Been a pleasure. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!_


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